New York agricultural officials are alerting home gardeners and commercial growers after three cases of potentially devastating late blight were discovered in field potatoes from Suffolk County on Long Island.
Late blight is a fast-spreading disease of tomatoes and potatoes that typically thrives in cool, rainy weather.
State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine said Tuesday that although the recent hot and dry weather should reduce the spread of late blight, commercial growers and gardeners should always be on the lookout and take the precautions.
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Inspectors with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets are surveying plants with an emphasis on tomatoes at the retail level and in commercial greenhouses. They have inspected more than 1.6 million tomato plants and have seen no signs of late blight.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
